While passwords are a vital component of system security, they can be cracked or broken relatively easily. Password cracking is the process of figuring out or breaking passwords in order to gain unauthorized entrance to a system or account. It is much easier than most users would think. Passwords can be cracked in a variety of different ways. The most simple is the use of a word list or dictionary program to break the password by brute force. These programs compare lists of words or character combination against password until they find a match.
Another easy way for potential intruders to nab passwords is through social engineering: physically nabbing the password off a Post-It from under someone's keyboard or through imitating an IT engineer and asking over the phone. Many users create passwords that can be guessed by learning a minimal amount of information about the person whose password is being sought. A more technical way of learning passwords is through sniffers, which look at the raw data transmitted across the net and decipher its contents. “A sniffer can read every keystroke sent out from your machine, including passwords”.
Recently, several companies were hacked, and recommended using two-step authentication or out of band SMS for authentication.
Also, more and more enterprises are introducing tablets, BYOD and cloud which are introducing new security challenges. Traditional multi-factor authentication technologies such as CAC card, RSA SecurID token . . . are difficult to use with tablets. These devices stay active when the user leaves them un-attended, and the devices are easily lost. Most importantly, a thief can wait for a person to log in before stealing the device with open session.
Recent application by the same inventor do not cover more sophisticated authentication methods, timeouts, user communication, Bluetooth and physical security.
Thus, a need exists for a smart token device that enables adaptive authentication to applications with better security features.